We plan to make India our R&D hub: Sandvik Asia

Sandvik Asia, a leading Swedish engineering company headquartered in Pune, is in an expansion mode. The company, which completed 50 years of its operations in the country last year, is recruiting 300 employees across its facilities in Pune, Mehsana, Hosur, Hyderabad and Chiplun. Hakan Kingstedt, managing director and president, Sandvik Asia, Pune, shares his views with DNA on the company’s plans, research and development and the role of Indian centres in its global operations.

Sandvik has completed its golden jubilee in India. What are your plans now?
We have major expansion plans in India. The plans are for all five facilities and we are looking for more land in Pune as well. This year, we will add 300 employees to the present strength of 2,000 across the country. The Pune plant is the largest with 1,392 employees. Thus, we plan to recruit more employees on board, especially engineers. Our aim is to recruit 10% women employees. We also have expansion plans on sourcing.

What exactly is the expansion on sourcing?
We have set a target of 30% of sourcing from local players in the emerging market and India plays a major role in it. Currently, we are exporting our products from here to all global markets.

What about research and development?
Research and development is one of the key areas for Sandvik. We have earmarked a total of 5-6% of the overall turnover for R&D. We also have opened an R&D centre in Pune, which is the first such centre outside Sweden. India is a knowledge hub and we want to make it our R&D hub. We have recruited young researchers from Pune and sent them to Sweden for training for three years, so that they get to know the working environment and have knowledge about the company’s operations.

You operate on different verticals. What is the main focus area for Sandvik in India?
Our important sectors include automotive, energy, mining, petrochemicals, construction equipment and engineering. Strong growth in the consumer class with increase in passenger car and auto components is a driving factor for the automotive sector. Also, emergence of the hub and spoke model in commercial vehicles is important for us. All these verticals are essential to our growth.

Which is the main sector for business, revenue wise? 
If we look at the growth last year, the highest contributing sector was mining and construction with 45% of the total business coming from it. We expect growth momentum in the sector to continue as the Indian government is laying more emphasis on infrastructure development. Material technology and tooling are also directly benefited due to the investment in infrastructure.

What is the road ahead for Sandvik in India?
India is a fast emerging market. In such markets, we need a fast growing strategy. We see the Indian market continuing to grow for the next five or 10 years, which will contribute to the expansion of Sandvik.